Outfield Positioning

[jdint]

DD's team played a 16u team a couple of weeks ago where the centerfielder was sprinting around pitch by pitch. Center one pitch, way over in left the next pitch and so forth. I thought, "why don't you just hold up a sign and tell the batter exactly what's coming?" Then I thought, "maybe they are just playing with our minds....."

 

[_MIA_]

DD's team played a 16u team a couple of weeks ago where the centerfielder was sprinting around pitch by pitch. Center one pitch, way over in left the next pitch and so forth. I thought, "why don't you just hold up a sign and tell the batter exactly what's coming?" Then I thought, "maybe they are just playing with our minds....."

Maybe she was being chased by a swarm of bees?

 

[jdint]

Maybe she was being chased by a swarm of bees?

Could be. I wonder if the bees were wearing the team wrist band?

 

[Strike2]

Isn't that one of the points of the shift? To prevent doubles? Who cares about singles...

Losing managers. The point is to get outs.

 

[quincy]

One of my pet peeves.

If you have a fence the ball going over the OF head is not the worse thing in the world. If you back them up too much you are giving to much the the field to batter.

If you do not have a fence OF backs up.

 

[Rolling Hard]

DD's team played a 16u team a couple of weeks ago where the centerfielder was sprinting around pitch by pitch. Center one pitch, way over in left the next pitch and so forth. I thought, "why don't you just hold up a sign and tell the batter exactly what's coming?" Then I thought, "maybe they are just playing with our minds....."

There is an Org. that has most or all of their teams outfielders running around on every pitch. If the player runs the wrong way the coach pulls her. It's fun to watch. They leave centerfield wide open a lot. If pitcher leaves one out over the plate it's a stand up triple or HR.

 

[_MIA_]

There is an Org. that has most or all of their teams outfielders running around on every pitch. If the player runs the wrong way the coach pulls her. It's fun to watch. They leave centerfield wide open a lot. If pitcher leaves one out over the plate it's a stand up triple or HR.

How else would the coaches show how smart they are?

 

[CoachJD]

During the MLB playoffs, I've seen managers outsmart themselves with infield shifts for LH "pull" hitters that resulted in an opposite-field grounder or dink single.

If a coach has specific knowledge of a hitter's capabilities & limitations then moving fielders can help but, generally, I agree with your thinking on this.

Yes, occasionally a player will beat the shift. The but the data is overwhelming, and you just didn't notice the many, many times that same batter was out because of the shift.

Also, it's not managers outsmarting themselves. It's front offices handing them data and saying "these guys play here in these situations."

 

[CoachJD]

Other than moving players in/back, I don't shade outfielders a lot.

The biggest moves are probably when we face a team that I know can't handle the pitcher's speed. Then I'll have them all shade opposite field.

Occasionally I can tell by a hitter's swing -- keep in mind, I see a lot of pretty bad swings -- so maybe I'll move players. But usually if I see a swing like that, I try to just exploit it by calling pitches she can't hit and hopefully my pitchers throw them there.

 

[Strike2]

Also, it's not managers outsmarting themselves. It's front offices handing them data and saying "these guys play here in these situations."

You're claiming that, in playoff games, the manager doesn't get to decide how to set his defense???